The situation began with a hostage situation and only spiraled from there. Armed supporters of a fringe opposition leader stormed a police station on July 17 and took nine hostages. On the streets, people gathered first in support of a peaceful solution to the crisis, then to call on all political prisoners to be released, eventually calling for the Armenian president's resignation.

As the protests grew in size and scope, at one point reaching an estimated 10-20,000 people, the police response turned at times brutal, according to Human Rights Watch.

“The Armenian authorities’ response to Yerevan’s largely peaceful protests has been excessive and cruel,” Jane Buchanan, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The tense atmosphere at some protests is no justification for detaining people arbitrarily, beating them, and bringing disproportionate criminal charges against them.”

The protests finally began to wind down after the hostage takers surrendered on July 31. But some protests still continued for days afterwards — and throughout it all, there was one loyal attendee of the protests who both sides could agree was amazing.